Beer coil cleaner



March 16, 1937. G. PlcHLER ET AL v 2,074,187

BEER COIL CLEANER Filed Dec. 22, 1934 INVENTORS usfavP/kh/er e? /l/dmWelk/yew Patented Mar. 16, 1937 l PATENT OFFICE` 2,074,187 BEER con.CLEANER Gustav Pichler and William Weichert,

Bronx, N. Y.

` Application December 22, 1934, serial No. 758,836

1 Claim. (Cl. 225-12) The purpose of this invention is to simplify theconstruction of the operating valve of pipe cleaners particularly usedfor cleaning beer coils by providing a device that may be directlyattached to a water faucet'and connected by hose tothe coils Athroughthe taps, thereby eliminating the vhose from the faucet to the device,`and also from. the device to the drain.

The invention is a valve'member having vertical inlet and outletconnections withside connections-,in whichthe valve member may berotated to connect either of` the side Vconnections with the inlet oroutlet connections. is also provided with transparentreceptacles and iscreen members for observing a sponge used as a y cleaning agent, andalso for preventing the sponge passing through the valve member into thedrain or discharge. ,y

v' This applicaton isan enlargement upon a prior 120 application withtheSerial No. 673,866 which was allowed and permitted to becomeabandoned.

`Many Vdevices `of this type have been provided Aii() andi more or`le'ss'" complicated connecting "'r'neansi'V however, it is desired toprovide'ineans for connecting the. ends ofthe tubes from the beer-coilsdirectly to a'water tap providing a comparatively straight passage fromthe'tap to the coil and back.

The object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a simplifiedconstruction for Valves normallyused for this purpose by arranging theparts of -the valve casing so that the casing may be screwed on the endcfa watertap, and also so connected by hose to side connections adaptedto r communicate with the inlet and discharge.

`Another object is to `providea valve member through which water maybesupplied directly from a tap to beer coils in which the parts thereofare positionedltofacilitate connecting the hose thereto; 'v v l yAfurther object is to provide means for connecting the ends of beercoils toa water tap so thatione coil may be cleaned at a time.

2' -linda` still further object is to provide an operating valve forcleaning beer coils from a water tap which is of a simple and economicalconstruction. J

With these ends in View, the invention embodies The device that the.ends of the beer coils may be directly,

a relatively small simple casing, having vertically positioned inlet andoutlet connections and horizontally positioned side connections, saidside connections having glass tubes therein with strainers at the innerends thereof, and also having projecting nipples over which the ends ofhose may readily be clamped.

Other features and advantages will appear from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the drawing, wherein:

Figure .l is a front view of the device with part broken away on oneside ofthe center, showing the interior thereof. y

Figure 2 is a plan' view alsoV with part broken away, showing the devicein section.

Figure 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 of Figure 1, showing the glasstube, the holding means? therefor, and the screen.

Figure 4 is a detail showing an alternate means for connecting thedevice to a faucet in which it is connected by a short piece of hoseinstead of a threaded union or coupling.v

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view with the parts on a relatively smallscale, and showing the aux-4 iliaryor special connection which providesmeans for cleaning one coil at a time. j

Figure 6 is a plan View with part broken away showing adevice of analternate construction in which all of the connections are formed in ahorizontal plane.`

Figure 7 is a section through the device showny in Figure 6. v

In the drawing the device is shown as it may be made, wherein numeral Iindicates the body of the valve member, numeral 2 the nipple for theinlet connection, numeral 3 the outlet connection, and numerals 4 and 5the side connections.

" The valve body I may be of any size, shape, or design, however it ispreferred to make it of a somewhat rectangular shape with a horizontaltapering cylindrical opening 6 extending there through in which a valvemember 'I is rotatably mounted. The valve member I is provided with ahandle 8 atoneend'and a threaded shank 9 at the opposite end upon whicha nut I0 may be threaded to engage the end of a spring II whichresiliently holds the valve member 'I in engagement with the opening 6.The valve member l is` provided with a diagonally positioned web I2providing openings I3 and I4 at the sides thereof, `and these openingsare so positioned that with the handle in the horizontal position shownin Figure 1, the opening I3 will communicate with the inlet connection2, and the side connection I4, whereas the opening I4 will communicatewith the side connection 5 and the outlet nipple 3. When the handle isturned to the upright or vertical position so that it passes through anangle of 90 degrees, the web I2 will also be turned through an angle of90 degrees, and the opening I3 will provide a communicating passagebetween the inlet nipple 2 and the side connection 5, whereas theopening I4 will provide a passage from the side connection 4 to thedischarge connection 3.

It will be understood, however, that these passages may be arranged inany other manner and the handle may also be provided at any other angle.

The side connections 4 and 5 are formed in bosses extending from themember Il with flanges I5 and I6 at the ends thereof, and these ilangesare provided with recesses IzI in which perforated discs I8 formingscreen members may be placed as shown, and as both sides are the same,the same reference numerals are used to designate the respective parts.The ends of the glass tube I9 are held in the recesses I'I and packingwashers 2u may be used between the ends of the tubes and the. discs I8,and the opposite ends of the glass tubes may be held in recesses 2| inflanges 22 or ttings 23, and these'connections may also be provided withpacking washers 24 at the ends of the tubes. The fittings may be held tothe valve body by a plurality of bolts 25 extending through the flangesas shown, however, it will be understood that these members may bearranged in any other manner and held by any means. Thev fittings 23extend outward and are turned at right angles forming Ls with theirouter ends extended to form nipples 26 over which the ends of hose 2'Imay be held by clamps 28. It will be understood, however, that any othermeans may be used for securing the ends of the hose to the outer ends ofthe side connections, and the fittings. 23 may also be held to the valvebody in any` other manner. This construction provides means forconnecting the device directly to a faucet or tap by a union or coupling29r on a sleeve 38 which may be screwed in the nipple 2, and with themember 29 screwed on the faucet or tap which is indicated by the numeral3 I. Packing washers 32 and 33 may also be used in this connection toprevent leakage. It will be noted that this coupling is formed by thesleeve or bushing 30 which is screwed on the nipple 2, however it willbe understood that the end of the nipple may be provided with a ring orridge, as indicated by the numeral 34, and located at the end of themember 30 so that the member 30 may be eliminated. It will also beunderstood that any other means may be used for directly attaching thisdevice tothe end. of a faucet by screwing it directly to the faucet. Itwill be understood that the entire coupling with' the member 30 may beremoved and the device directly attached to the faucet by a short pieceof hose 35 with clamps around the ends, as shown in Figure 4, or byany-other means.

In the design shown in Figure 5 the member I is shown` directly attachedto a faucet with one side connection connected to a tap 36, and theother connected by an auxiliary connection 3'I to a valve 38v which hasbeen removed from a barrel or keg 39 whichis normally connected by aconnection 40 to a coil communicating with the tap. 36, thereby makingit possible to clean the coil of the tap 36 while another tap, which isindicated bythe numeral 4I, may continue to operate. It will also beunderstood that this connection may be made in any other manner.

In the design shown in Figures 6 and '7, a device is shown that may beplaced upon a counter, however, it will be noted that all connectionsare in the same plane and resiliently positioned. In this design thevalve body 42 is provided with a. base 43, forming a stand, and thevalve member 44 is held therein by a nut 45. 'I'his member is alsoprovided with openings similar to the openings I3 and I4 communicatingwith the side connections, indicated by the numerals 46 and 41 andadapted to connect either of the side connections with an inletconnection 48 or with the discharge 49. In this design the sideconnections are provided with members 50 and 5I having glasses 52 and 53therein, and the inner ends are provi-ded with screens 54. In thisdesign the glass members are held in place by nuts 55 and 56 and packingwashers may also be used at the ends of the tubular glass members. Itwill be noted that the valve members and also the side connections maybe of any type or design.

It will be understood that other changes may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. One of which changes may be in the useof any other means for attaching the device to the tap or faucet,another may be in the use of other means for holding or mountingA theglass members in the device, and still another may be in the use ofother means for making the hose connections to the device.

The construction will be readily understood from the foregoingdescription. In use the de# vice may be directly attached to a faucethaving a threadl on the end thereof, as shown in Figure 1, by the member29, and when it is secured in place the beer taps may be connected to.the members 23 at the sides and the opposite endsof the beer coils`connected together. With the apparatus connected in this manner thewater may be turnedon and the lever 8 turned from the horizontal. to thevertical position so that the water may be run rst. through one coil,and then through the other, and'. where a sponge is used .the sponge,which is indicated by the numeral B'Iv andl shown in Figure 7, may beplaced ln the' to the other tap. The sponge may, therefore, be-

run back and forth as manyy times as may be desired by turning the lever8. It will also be understood that the Fuller ball and carriage mayI beremoved from the tap if desired, so that the sponge will pass throughtheftap and up to the screen. 20 at the inner ends of the glass member.However, with this apparatus, it is not necessary to remove .the Fullerball and carriage or any part of the tap or apparatus. It will also beunderstood that a plurality of rubber or brous balls, as indicated bythe numeral 58 may also be usedy if desired. Anycleaning device may,therefore, be run back and forth through the coils. or only water or anysolution may be used as may be desired.

With this apparatus it is also possible to clean one coil at a time, asin many cases when a coil is empty it is desired to clean the same whileusing the other coil, and when cleaning only one coil the device may beconnected as shown in Figure 5 so that the spon'geor other device may berun back and forth through the coil without disturbing the other coil. f

Having thus fully described the invention, what we claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

A pipe cleaning apparatus comprising a valve housing having fourradially extending openings with two of said openings flanged andhorizontally positioned, providing a horizontal passage through saidhousing, and two of said openings vertically positioned, providing avertical passage extending through said housing intersecting saidhorizontal passage, said housing being provided with a taperedcylindrical opening at the intersection of said vertical and horizontalpassages, the lower end of said vertical passage having a threadednipple extending downward from said housing and the upper end of saidpassage also having a threaded nipple providing an inlet connection tosaid housing, a bushing with a collar at the upper end threaded on saidinlet connection, and a coupling member slidable on said bushing andadapted to connect said housing to a water tap, a conical shaped valvemember rotatable in the conical shaped cylindrical opening at theintersection of said passages in said Valve housing having a handle onone end and means resiliently holding said valve member inward at theopposite end, said valve member having diagonally opposite recessescorresponding with the horizontal and vertical passages, and

adapted to be turned through an angle of to divert fluid from said inletconnection to either of said horizontal passages and at the same timesconnect either of said horizontal passages with the lower verticalpassage forming a drain; a frame secured to the anges at the ends of thehorizontal openings and positioned adjacent each of said horizontalopenings, said frames having transparent windows therein and beingprovided with water tight securing means, elbows forming the outer endsof said frames having threaded nipples extending outward at right anglesthereto, and integral with said elbows, the horizontal and verticalpassages in said housing and frames being in the same vertical plane,one of said frames being adapted to contain a loosely mounted materialfor contacting and cleaning the walls of a beer pipe when carriedtherethrough by flowing water entering said inlet connection, screens ineach of said frames positioned adjacent the inner ends thereof, saidnipples at the outer ends of said elbows being adapted to be connectedin circuit with a beer coil, whereby iiuid entering said inletconnection passes through the frame and nipple at one end, through saidcoil, and enters said housing through the nipple and frame at theopposite end, and passes out of said lower vertical connection to thedrain.

GUSTAV PICHLER. WILLIAM WEICI-IERT.

